FLUSHING, QUEENS — Josh Bell and Manny Machado hit two of San Diego’s four home runs off Max Scherzer and the Padres rolled past the New York Mets 7-1 on Friday night in the playoff opener.
Yu Darvish shut down the Mets again, and San Diego also got long balls from leadoff hitter Jurickson Profar and a slumping Trent Grisham against an ineffective Scherzer — booed from the mound in the fifth inning at Citi Field.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner went 7-0 in his first postseason start for New York, a huge disappointment after Scherzer signed a $130 million contract in December to make big plays for his new team.
San Diego needs one win over the next two days to clinch the best-of-three National League Series wild card and advance to face the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers.
Blake Snell will start Saturday night in Game 2, likely against struggling Mets ace Jacob deGrom. New York said Friday night’s result will determine whether deGrom or Chris Bassitt gets the ball next.
After winning 101 games during the regular season, the second-most in franchise history, the Mets suddenly faced elimination at home after losing in front of a sold-out crowd of 41,621 in their first playoff game since 2016.
Eduardo Escobar scored and doubled off Darvish, who has won all three starts against New York this year with a 0.86 ERA.
The star right-hander from Japan, coming off a 16-win season, was the Netherlands Pitcher of the Month for September and picked up where he left off. He got out of trouble early while the game was still competitive, then settled in to pitch seven innings of six-hit ball with no walks.
Darvish is 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA in eight regular-season starts against the Mets, including 3-0 at Citi Field.
Scherzer, 38, also lost a critical game last weekend in Atlanta, allowing nine hits — including two homers — and four runs in 5 2/3 innings. He missed about nine weeks this season during two stints on the disabled list with oblique injuries, but said Thursday that he is fully healthy.
However, Scherzer had few sharp hits and the Padres took advantage. Bell launched a two-run homer in the first in his first postseason appearance for his first home run since Sept. 6.
Grisham, batting eighth after hitting .107 since Sept. 1, connected for a solo shot in the second. Prafar made it 6-0 with a three-run home run in the fifth, and Machado sent a laser over the left-field fence two batters later.
The four home runs allowed match Scherzer’s career high of four.
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